In the final installment of CSA Online’s PizzaRev series, we’ll explore the importance of choosing franchisees with a particularly discerning eye, and the process by which franchisors evaluate potential expansion markets.

PizzaRev opened a concept test kitchen in Los Angeles in April 2012. Today, it has nine company-owned restaurants with 19 more company and franchised stores on the way.

“This isn’t just about our growth, but also growth in the fast casual pizza space,” said Irv Zuckerman, co-CEO of PizzaRev. In fact, the fast casual pizza space is much bigger than it was two years ago when PizzaRev opened its first concept. New concepts from well-known brands, such as Chipotle’s Pizzeria Locale, have opened up within the last year.

In the first installment of its new Case Study series, CSA Online offered an insider’s look at the conception and initial rollout of the southern Calif.-based fast-casual concept PizzaRev. Likened to “the Chipotle of pizza,” this innovative chain lets customers choose from an artisanal array of toppings to craft their own pizzas. Using a 900-degree, stone-hearth oven, pizzas are ready in about three minutes, all at a cost of less than $8 per pie.

Southern California’s PizzaRev aims to do for pizza what Chipotle has done for burritos. The young chain got its start in April 2012 with a “test kitchen” in Northridge, Calif., and, amid stellar Yelp! reviews and robust sales, is already on the verge of opening its third location, with more units planned for 2013.

X Team International announced that Los Angeles-based partner Cypress Retail Group has been retained by Property Development Centers, a wholly owned subsidiary of Safeway Inc., to serve as the leasing agent for four shopping centers under development and redevelopment in the Los Angeles area.

Solutions Spotlight

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